London: After Barcelona and Real Madrid, English giants Manchester City have emerged as the third highest payers in the world of sports even ahead of their famed neighbours Manchester United.

According to a study conducted by sportingintelligence.com, Barcelona remain the best paid team in global sport measured by average first-team wages, with Real Madrid in second place but Manchester City have stormed into the top three and continue to close the gap on the Spanish giant.

The report said that first-team stars at City, earned an average of 86,280 pounds per man per week, or 4.5 million pounds per year, the highest salaries ever paid in the English Premier League, which is also the world's richest football league.

City's numbers represent a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in average first-team pay and demonstrate the depth of the pockets of oil-rich owner Sheikh Mansour. Only Barcelona and Real Madrid pay more than City.

The average first team pay at Barcelona - employers of the world's best player, Lionel Messi - has been calculated at 101,160 pounds per player per week, or 5,260,313 pounds per year in the period under review. That represents a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent at the Nou Camp as Barca hold their No.1 spot.

Real Madrid's players in No.2 place earned 90,859 pounds per week (4.7 million pounds per year, a rise of six per cent).

The survey also said that Chelsea's wage bill has also soared and they now sit just one place below City.

Manchester United are 11th with a typical player earning 3.34 million pounds per year. City rise since the takeover by Sheikh Mansour in 2008 has been phenomenal and last year's they were placed at the 10th place in the list. They were at No.86 when this report was first published in 2010 but jumped to 10th last year. (IANS)